


Ask Me Anything

by Magentas_Nightmare



Category: The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms, The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff and Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:13:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 16,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26871202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magentas_Nightmare/pseuds/Magentas_Nightmare
Summary: Merle Dixon is trapped alone with a work colleague in the basement of the high school where they both work...and it may be the best thing to ever happen to him. This story is mostly a character study, it does progress but there's a lot of character/relationship building. Just FYIChapter Management
Relationships: Merle Dixon and OFC - Miranda
Comments: 14
Kudos: 9





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have SO many stories I've written over the years and some of them, for whatever reason, were posted and then removed. It's been 5 years so things happen. lol  
> If you read this before, I apologize. But I do want all of the work I have posted and even though this was posted at some point, I was deleted and I have no idea why. lol  
> Thanks for reading! xoxo

Strangers in the Wind - Cut Copy

[ _**https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X03Y_CxkRng** _ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X03Y_CxkRng)

* * *

_ **Ask Me Anything** _

_ **Chapter 1** _

Merle Dixon was almost done work that Friday and everything was just going right. He walked the halls of the high school where he worked, double-checking that everything was clean and that he could hit the road.

The halls were already empty, and when he checked the clock, it said 4:45 pm.

Merle was going to be at his cabin that week, and he couldn't wait. A whole week alone would sound miserable to most people, but he spent a lot of time alone now that Daryl had moved away with Carol for a new job. The truth was that he was a little lonely, but he'd survive, he always had before.

When he looked out the second-floor window, he noticed that the teacher's parking lot was empty, and he wasn't surprised. It was Easter break, and they were all likely going away too.

Merle just had his boiler check to complete, and then he was free as a bird to spend a week at the cabin alone. He'd stay up late and play his old records, watch stupid old comedies on his ancient VHS machine, drink too much scotch and sleep until noon...he couldn't wait.

Merle turned on his iPhone since he was alone now and sang along with a song from a playlist that Carol had sent him.

_**These hands** _   
_**Like strangers in the wind** _   
_**These eyes** _   
_**Float in the breeze** _   
_**These hands** _   
_**Like strangers in the wind** _   
_**This voice** _   
_**Calling to me** _

Merle put away his cart of janitor supplies in the 'office' where he ate his lunch before heading down to the basement. He hoisted his stuffed backpack onto his back and couldn't wipe the silly grin from his face. The backpack had everything he needed for the week, and he almost ran to the basement he was so excited. He was just one boiler check away from time in the woods that he desperately needed, he didn’t feel as alone when he was in the woods.

Merle made a fateful decision to take off his headphones and leave his iPhone at the top of the basement stairs. He'd dropped it down the steps once and had to get it replaced, so he thought he was being smart to leave it there.

The basement was dim, but he knew where everything was, so he wandered into the boiler room and checked the area with a quick cursory glance.

Merle noticed movement in the corner and almost pissed himself when he realized it was one of the teachers.

“Jesus!” he yelped unceremoniously.

“Sorry, Mr. Dixon, I didn't mean to scare you. I was just putting away these pieces of lab equipment before I leave for the holiday.”

“It's OK, Ms. Cole. I just wasn't expecting anyone down here.”

Ms. Cole was the biology teacher and easily the person he liked most in the whole school.

She bought him a Beatles album on vinyl for the secret Santa that year, and it had blown him away. Every male teacher in the school wanted her; they had spoken about her when he was around as if he was invisible more than once. Merle wanted her too, but he presumed out of all the men in the school he had the least chance with her. Still, she was kind to him when they interacted, and he liked her more than he cared to admit to anyone, even Daryl.

Merle recalled an occasion then when he had been in the staff room fixing a drip under the staff room sink when one of the teachers asked him what kind of music he liked. Merle loved music and answered as he worked. He went on and on for five minutes straight before pulling his head out from under the sink and realizing that only Ms. Cole was still sitting there. She insisted that she was listening and agreed that Rubber Soul was the best Beatles album of all. Merle had never been so embarrassed, but it taught him a good lesson, that none of the teachers saw him as equal, he was the 'help.' Only Ms. Cole seemed to see him differently and it felt good. He still played the Rubber Soul vinyl she gave him almost daily.

“Are you going away this Easter?” she asked, smiling sweetly at him.

Ms. Cole was the only one who spoke to him like he was a human being at work, so he was happy to see her face.

“I am, actually. Gonna spend a whole week up at my little hunting cabin all by my lonesome,” he laughed. “You?”

“I was supposed to be going away, but my plans fell through. It'll just be me and the cat,” she shrugged.

“That's a shame,” he mused.

“Guess we can get outta here now,” she suggested. “You'll want to be hitting the road by the looks of it.”

She nodded to his backpack, and he agreed, holding the boiler room door open for her.

It was then that they heard the slam of another door and Merle's heart sank...it sounded like the door at the top of the basement stairs, the one with the huge padlock on the outside.

“What the hell?” he exclaimed. “Is anyone else in here?”

“Just Stanley,” she answered.

Merle was confused about why Stanley would be there; the other maintenance man had the evening off.

“He wasn't supposed to come and do lock up. I told him I'd do it!” Merle groaned, running to the staircase to try and catch him before he took off.

Merle banged on the door and hollered to the empty air sensing the futility of it all. Stanley was very hard of hearing.

“Please, tell me you have your phone, Ms. Cole,” he begged.

“It's in my classroom,” she winced. “I just ran down here quickly to get these boxes out of my lab.”

“And my phone is just on the other side of this door. Damn it!”

Merle walked back down the steps toward her and felt the dread of realizing they were trapped.

“Are there any basement windows?” she asked.

“Not without bars on 'em.”

Ms. Cole looked panicked, and he assured her that he'd get her out of there somehow.

“You'll be OK, Ms. Cole, I promise.”

The basement was huge and dark, but it was very warm, almost hot.

“What should we do?” she asked.

Merle tried to think and felt responsible for her, he was a man after all, and the maintenance man at that.

“I just need to think for a minute, but I'll think of something,” he smiled, trying to make her feel calmer.

An hour later he had nothing, absolutely nothing. The windows were barred, there was no phone in the basement, and there was no crawl space he could escape through. The only useful thing he could think of was to write the words 'HELP' in black marker on the basement window.

“I'm sorry, Ms. Cole. I'll keep thinking.”

“It's not your fault, Mr. Dixon. I'm sure someone will come for us eventually, right?”

“I do have food for you,” he said, trying to ease her mind further.

Merle grabbed his backpack and opened it, offering her all the trail mix, protein bars and Gatorade he had.

“That's yours,” she said softly. “I can't take that.”

“Of course you can,” he nodded. “I want you to have it.”

She just smiled at him and said she hoped they weren't going to be trapped long enough to worry about starving.

“Someone will come, but until then, you won't be hungry,” he smiled.

/

Within the hour they found somewhere to sit, and that ended up being a back room where there were stacks of blue gym mats.

“I thought someone would have come back by now,” she mused, and then he heard her stomach growling and laughed to himself.

“Eat, Ms. Cole,” he insisted.

“I guess I kinda have to...I missed lunch. Thank you, Mr. Dixon.”

She sat on the blue gym mat across from him and nibbled a protein bar.

“This has to be the last place you wanna be right now,” he sighed.

“I don't know about that, at least there's company here. At home, it was going to be my cat and me.”

“You live alone?” he asked, surprised that she wasn't married.

“Recently divorced, so this is my first year doing everything alone.”

“I didn't know that, sorry.”

“It's OK.”

“I don't hear anything like that cause I stay in my office.”

“Why do you stay in there?” she asked.

“I don't belong in the staff room.”

“Sure you do.”

“I don't feel comfortable in there. People ask me things to be nice, and then they talk over my answers or just walk away, it's embarrassing.”

“They can be assholes,” she sighed, and he looked at her with a stunned expression. “What?”

“I just never heard you swear before, Ms. Cole,” he grinned.

“I think maybe now you could call me Miranda.”

“Miranda, that's pretty. You could call me Merle if you wanted to.”

“If we have to spend a whole week here, we could end up very close,” she laughed.

“I shudder to think of that. I don't have enough hiking snacks for that long.”

“Someone will come,” she insisted, but she looked a little uncertain.

/

By the time the sun was setting, Miranda got up to use the bathroom, and Merle was grateful that they at least had that one convenience.

He decided to search the basement for anything that could be useful if they were going to be trapped for an extended period of time.

Some blankets were being stored from the drama department and some changes of clothes for costumes. He came across two unopened boxes of Ritz crackers and a bag of Halloween chocolate; at least it was something. He wanted to get much closer to her, but only time would tell how it would all play out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's nothing too complicated about this story at all, it's just a sweet, sappy, smutty read:)

_ **Chapter 2** _

When she came back into the room, she had let her hair down and he liked the way it looked. Miranda Cole had shoulder-length dark brown hair and big brown eyes with freckles all over her nose and cheeks. Merle always thought she was the best-looking teacher he’d ever seen. He was wearing dark grey coveralls and she was in a black skirt with a white dress shirt and heels, an odd couple if ever there was one.

“Looks like we'll be here all night,” she said, sitting down on the blue mat next to him.

“I wish I could think of something...maybe I'll break the window in the morning and scream at the top of my lungs,” he chuckled.

“That could work, it's a good plan,” she praised.

Merle pulled out the things he'd found and handed them to her like a hunter-gatherer.

“Blankets, crackers, and chocolate were the best I could find for you,” he shrugged.

“Merle, this is perfect! If I have to sleep in a creepy basement then I'm very happy to have a blanket…and such nice company,” she smiled.

“I wish there was something to do...it's gonna be awful boring for you until someone comes,” he sighed.

“Maybe we could think of a way to pass the time,” she suggested.

Something about her changed then, there was a new and playful glint in her eye.

“Like how?” he grinned.

“We could get to know each other a little better, I know what albums you like but there must be more to know,” she giggled.

“How do we do that?” he asked, feeling a little awkward cause he had his own ideas about getting to know her better and they all involved nudity.

“Maybe we could play truth or dare without the dare?” she suggested.

“Huh?”

“Just ask each other some questions to pass the time. Any question you can think of and I’ll answer no matter what,” she smirked.

“Man, I better think of something good to ask,” he laughed.

“Could be a fun way to kill some time anyway. I'll get the ball rolling,” she chirped, and he felt nervous, already trying to think of something to ask her that wasn't too personal.

“If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would you pick?” she asked like it was a ground-breaking question.

“I think...” he began, trying to think of an answer but he'd never considered it before. “I think I'd eat chicken noodle soup.”

“Is that your favorite?” she asked.

“Is this a separate question?” he teased.

“OK.”

“It's comfort food...I liked it ever since I was a little guy. It was the one motherly thing my mom would do when I was sick, she'd make me canned chicken noodle soup and let me watch soap operas with her.”

“That's cute,” she smiled.

Miranda said it was his turn and he figured it was cheap to just ask her the same question back.

“It can be anything?” he asked.

“Ask me anything you want, anything at all.”

“What's your favorite movie?”

She thought about it for a moment and then answered enthusiastically.

“There's this chick flick called 'How to Make an American Quilt' and it's so romantic.”

“What's it about?” he asked.

“2 questions,” she winked. “It's about a young woman who spends a summer with her grandmother and her quilting bee and all of these older women share the stories of the great loves of their lives with her...it's really good.”

“It does sound good.”

“Really? Never heard of a man being into a romantic movie before.”

“I like all kinds of movies,” he smiled. “Your turn.”

“Are you single?”

Merle was surprised that she went from a food question to a relationship question, but he didn't mind.

“Yes,” he answered, fidgeting with his hands and looking up at her eyes slowly. “Have been for some time now.”

“How long?” she asked.

“Almost a year I think.”

“Since you've just been single, or since...”

Merle could sense that she was asking when he'd last been with a woman and he considered lying but didn't see the point.

“Since anything,” he shrugged.

“Why?”

“Just haven't met anyone.”

“Sorry.”  
“It's OK,” he insisted. “My turn. Did you always want to be a teacher?”

“No, I wanted to be a dancer, if you can believe that, but I got into a serious car accident when I was 17 and never regained my balance 100% even after years of physiotherapy.”

“Seriously?”

“It was years ago and I'm happy teaching now. I have metal screws in my ankle, and I broke my hip.”

“That must have been terrifying,” he exclaimed.

“It was really scary, but I think it made me stronger in the end.”

She lifted her leg up to show him the scar on her ankle where the bones had been shattered. He couldn't believe he never noticed it before.

“Put your hand there,” she said, taking his hand and laying it on her skin.

She moved her foot and he could sense a slight grinding sensation against the palm of his hand.

“You poor thing!” he winced.

“It only hurts when it rains,” she insisted with a chuckle. “My turn.”

“Go ahead,” he said, easing into the conversation and laying back on the gym mat to get comfortable.

“What makes you smile?”

Nobody ever asked him anything like these questions before, so he really had to think.

“I love when I'm in a second-hand record shop and I find something I wasn't expecting. It's usually some record that reminds me of being a teenager, so I grab it and take it home all excited and throw it on the turntable...that always makes me smile.”

“I haven't listened to an actual record since I was a kid,” she noted.

“I have a second turntable you can have if you ever wanted it.”

“You'd just give it to me?” she asked.

“Sure, it's a little old but I fixed it up good. I'd bring it over and set it up for you if you want.”

“You're a good man, aren't you, Merle?”

“I try to be.”

Merle tried to think of something clever as he lay there and looked up at the pipes overhead in the ceiling.

“If you were stranded on a desert island and you could take three things, what would you take?”

“Oh! That's a good question!” she squealed, and he laughed at her excitement over a simple question. “I'd take the fishing rod my dad gave me before he died, my favorite book of poetry and....probably my vibrator,” she laughed. “Sorry, I had to be honest.”

Merle imagined her naked then and winced at the way his body reacted. Ms. Cole was a stunner, with her wide hips and full legs; she was just his kind of woman. Merle was crazy for a woman with a good body. Miranda looked so much like Ashley Graham it ached every time he looked at her.

“I'm gonna try real hard not to think too much about that,” he chuckled.

“I'm sorry. Did I make you uncomfortable?” she asked.

“No,” he insisted. “I just shouldn't be thinking of that.”

“Are adult questions off the table?" she grinned.

“Adult questions?” he fumbled, looking over his shoulder at her. “Yeah...no, it’s OK. I could do adult questions I guess.”

What the hell was happening? Merle had no idea.

“My turn,” she began.

The room was getting dark to the point that her face was becoming obscured by shadows and he felt a little more comfortable around her that way. Looking a beautiful woman in the eye was never super easy for him.

“What's your favorite sexual position?”

“Damn!” he chuckled.

“You don't have to answer that.”

“No, I'm OK.”

Merle had to think a little about it cause it had been a while since Sarah left and he tried hard not to think of her.

“I used to like it when my ex-girlfriend would sit on my lap and wrap her arms around my neck. She'd just ride me till I couldn't think straight...that was good.

"Sounds good."

"She used to say my name and moan like she was gonna lose her mind...anyway, that was ages ago.”

“Who was this?”

“Just a girlfriend I had…Sarah. She lived with me for a few months and then she took off and went back to her ex out of the blue, didn’t even see it coming.”

“I'm sorry, love is cruel. Did you want to stop?”

“No, I like this, and besides that, it's my turn.”

“Do your worst,” she giggled.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story builds a little slowly with lots of dialogue and character/relationship building. It's not plot-heavy until the end, just a romance story.

_ **Chapter 3** _

It was so dark then, that he couldn't even really see her, so he decided to go for it and ask something a little risque.

“What do you think about…when you touch yourself?”

There was silence for a moment and he wondered if he had pushed it too far, but she answered the question.

“I usually think about a man going down on me. I imagine him doing everything right and teasing me closer and closer to the edge before he finally pulls the trigger.”

“Jesus,” Merle sighed, imagining her touching herself and getting all hot.

“What do you think about?” she asked.

“It’s stupid.”

“I’m sure it’s not. Come on,” she pushed.

“I think about making love to a woman under the stars. I imagine her telling me I'm the best she ever had and that she's all in love with me and all that bullshit,” he chuckled, trying to make light of it, but that's just what he really thought about.

Merle wasn't about to tell her that she had featured in his thoughts once or twice cause he didn't want to freak her out. None of his thoughts about her were explicit, though, they were sexual but never anything nasty. He imagined her face in the moonlight, looking up at him like he was all she ever wanted; his fantasies were really out there in his own opinion.

“That's nice, Merle.”

“Can I ask you why you're divorced or is that too personal?” he broached.

“He left me for someone else,” she said simply, “a woman he worked with. I had a feeling it was going on for months, but I foolishly thought he'd stop and remember that he loved me.”

Merle sat up then and felt a wave of anger wash over him. The idea that any man would leave Miranda for someone else made him irate.

“What an idiot,” he growled.

“It's OK, it's over now.”

“How could a man have someone like you and just throw that away?” he sighed.

“It happened to you too,” she pointed out. “You were left for someone else too.”

“I guess so, but the guy she left me for was probably better. He wasn't a janitor, I know that much.”

"Your job doesn't make you worth less than anyone else, Merle."

"I guess so."

"It's the truth. You mean more to me than anyone else in this school. You're the only one I really want to know better."

Merle just smiled in the dark and then he felt her reach over and squeeze his arm.

“This game took a downturn,” she sighed, laying down next to him on the gym mat.

“Only happy questions then, deal?” he chuckled.

“Deal. So, how old were you when you first had sex?” she asked, and he sighed as he remembered it.

“I was 15 and it was a mess,” he laughed.

“Who was it?  
“I was working as a camp counselor and this girl who was 18 dragged me into a cabin with her completely at random.”

“Seriously?” Miranda gasped.

“Oh yeah! She tossed me on a bunk and just stripped off her bathing suit. Before I knew which way was up, she was riding me and smothering my face in her...well, you know. I came within 5 minutes like a goof and she just kissed me and walked away.”

“That's insane!” she giggled.

“I tried to give her flowers and talk to her after that, but she said she wasn't interested. Turned out it was a dare.”

“That's messed up. Who does something like that?”

“I always thought it was a little harsh,” he agreed. “Sorry, this was supposed to be happy.”

It was black now all around them and he could hardly see her at all.

“You OK over there?” he asked.

“It's so dark,” she said, and she sounded uncomfortable.

"I can turn on the light in the hallway," he offered. "We do have power, so it doesn't have to be dark."

"No, it's OK as long as you're here."

Merle reached his hand out and touched her arm then, he just wanted her to feel less alone.

“Thanks.”

“It is creepy down here, isn't it?” he said softly.

Merle wasn't the least bit scared, but he didn't want her to feel like the only one who was uncomfortable.

“Where is that blanket?” she asked, and he sat up and grabbed it to drape it over her.

“Better?”

“Perfect. Thank you.”

“If you're hungry before you sleep there's more food,” he said, still touching her arm.

“You haven't eaten anything yet,” she noted.

“I'm not hungry.”

“You're lying,” she answered.

“I can wait...I don't wanna eat when you might need it.”

“Why are you being so sweet to me when we just work together?”

“I just want to.”

“You're not like everyone else here, Merle...I like you.”

“I like you too,” he smiled in the dark.

“If I had to describe you in one word, I'd say you were fascinating," she said.

“You think?”

“Yep. You fascinate me, you always have. There's so much more to you than meets the eye. You're deep.”

“I'd need three words to describe you,” he answered.

“Why three words?”

“Cause one wouldn't do you justice.”

“What three words would you need?” she asked and there was a sultry sound to her voice that he reacted to.

“I'd describe you as kind, intelligent, and beautiful.”

“Why wouldn't just one of those words be enough? They're all perfectly nice adjectives.”

Merle took a moment to put his explanation into words that sounded right.

“If I only said you were kind then I'd be missing the fact that you graduated top of your class and that's important. If I just said you were intelligent then I'd be leaving out how beautiful you are. If I only called you beautiful then maybe you'd think I only notice how good you look and not how smart and kind you are as well.”

There was a long silence and he wondered what she was thinking. He heard her moving then and she turned toward him, laying her hand on his chest.

“Merle...nobody ever said anything that nice to me before.”

“Someone should have by now, cause it's all true. You were the only one who cared to listen to me ramble about music that day in the staff room. It was humiliating, but it meant a lot to me that you stayed.”

“I was happy to listen...and I found out which album to buy you for Christmas, so it was more than worth it. You said it was the one you couldn't find but wanted the most.”

“I still listen to it all the time, thank you.”

“Merle?”

“Yeah?”  
He felt her move closer then, but he couldn't really see her. Her hand moved to his shoulder and her head came to rest on his chest. It took his breath away, but he stayed still, his hand hovering over her back for a moment.

“Is this OK?” she asked.

“It's more than OK.”

His heart raced and finally, he lay his hand on her back. He couldn't get his mind around the way she was snuggling up to him, maybe it was just comforting because the basement scared her.

“It's been ages since anyone did this with me,” he said softly.

"It's nice," she sighed.

Merle felt the kind of warmth he'd forgotten existed. He felt like he was needed again.

When Sarah left him, Merle had given up on himself and stopped trying with women completely. He never would have tried with someone like Miranda. Being stuck in the basement with her was maybe just what he needed.

She nestled herself on his chest and sighed softly then, and Merle prayed for just one full night with her before they were rescued.

"I'm sorry you're missing your trip, Merle. Maybe they'll come for us tomorrow and you can still make it."

"I'm not in any hurry, I gotta admit...I'm really happy to be here with you."

"Me too. I haven’t felt this good in a long time. I feel so safe with you,” she sighed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this one is so slow but when I wrote it, in the beginning, it was just fun building the relationship and I wasn't even sure if I'd post it. I promise it's getting there :)   
> Thanks for reading! xoxo

_ **Chapter 4** _

The moment was heaven for him, but it was interrupted.

BANG, BANG, BANG!!!

“Holy Jesus, Merle!” Miranda shrieked.

“Stay right there,” Merle instructed as he went to investigate the sound.

“Who’s up there?” she exclaimed.

“I’ll find out, you stay there, OK?” he insisted, rubbing her back quickly before he took off.

Merle walked out of the little back room they were sharing and into the narrow hallway that led to the stairway.

“Merle?”

He'd know that voice anywhere and he almost wanted to kick his ass.

“Stanley, you dumb shit!” he growled as he walked up the steps toward the flashlight being shined in his face.

“I'm sorry, man,” Stanley pleaded. “I was just on the way back from the liquor store and I saw your truck was still outside.”

“I was trapped down here with Ms. Cole for all this time! I told ya I was gonna lock up!”

“You did?”

“Yes, Stanley.”

“Sorry, buddy, I musta plumb forgot.”

“I'm gonna go and get Ms. Cole and let her know she can get home now, don't lock us in again,” he laughed.

“I won't, I'm sorry.”

“It's alright, man. Just glad you drove past.”

Miranda was already at the bottom of the stairs when he got there and smiling brightly.

“You're free!” he grinned.

“Thank goodness!”

/

Out in the parking lot, Miranda pulled out her phone, after retrieving it from her classroom, to look for a taxi number. Merle stood next to his truck wishing he was still trapped in the basement with her.

“I can drive you home,” he offered sheepishly.

“It's not too much trouble?”

“Of course not,” he smiled, excited that she seemed about to accept.

“Thanks a lot.”

He walked around to open the door for her and she hopped into his old dirty truck, making him wonder which way was up in the world.

“So...where to?” he asked.

“I'm all the way on the east side of town. 426 Grandview St.”

“It sure is good we got outta there, hey?” Merle said, trying to make conversation.

“It wasn't half bad, though, Merle...you really made me feel better about the whole thing.”

“I sure didn't want you to be scared or anything. I wasn't about to let anything happen to you.”

“So, you're going off to your cabin right away, or in the morning?” she asked.

“I think I'll wait till morning now...I need a shower and some sleep first.”

Merle thought then about her spending Easter alone and it bothered him. “And you're gonna be all alone for Easter?”

“I was going to go home and see my mom, but she has a new boyfriend and she's going to see his family instead...I know, right?” she laughed.

“I hate to think of you being alone. I know it's not much and we don't know each other very well...but you're welcome to come with me if you want.”

Merle felt stupid as soon as he said it and tried to laugh it off before she could offer him a polite 'No, thank you'.

“I mean, I have the extra space…I’d sleep in the living room. I'm not trying to be a creep, it's just that you're on your own and I'm on my own....no pressure or anything-”

“You really want me to come?” she smiled.

“I'm not really doing much for Easter...I don't cook a proper dinner or nothing but if you wanted to come with me, I'd love to have you along."

“I'd love to.”

“Well, that’s great,” he exclaimed a little too enthusiastically.

Merle drove to her house and said he'd come pick her up in the morning.

“I can't wait, thanks for asking me,” she grinned.

“It's nice out at the cabin this time of year. I'll show you a good time, I promise.”

“I'm sure it's going to be an awesome week. I'll get the neighbor lady to feed my cat and then I'm all yours.”

He couldn't think what else to say and didn't want the bubble to burst so he kept the goodbye simple.

“See you in the morning, then.”

“Yep! I'll be here at 9 am.”

Miranda leaned in to kiss his cheek and said goodnight.

“Thanks again for sharing your food with me.”

“What's mine is yours,” he insisted.

Merle went home that night and thought about Miranda as he lay in bed trying to fall asleep. He needed rest desperately, but it was hard to relax with her on his mind. Being trapped with her had forced them into a conversation that may have never taken place otherwise and he felt like they'd gotten so close.

He imagined her up at the cabin with him for a whole week, seeing her pretty face first thing in the morning, and the last thing before he slept, and his heart danced. He knew that he wouldn't be able to resist trying to get closer to her, but he respected her so much that he didn't want to push anything. It would be a delicate balance and he felt equal parts terrified and excited, he felt like a 14-year-old boy again.

###############

Merle was up and in the shower at 7 am, although he hadn't slept very well at all. His relaxing trip to the cabin was now nerve-wracking and scary as hell for him but being with her was worth it. He ate some breakfast and double checked that he had everything he needed. The drive to her place was a little terrifying; he questioned it all the way there but when he pulled up outside her place at 9 am and found her sitting on the front step with her bag he knew it was OK just from the look on her face. She was sitting next to an antique looking fishing rod and he loved her right away. Merle got out of the truck and took in the sight of her in her denim cutoffs and t-shirt, casual and beautiful.

“You ready?” he smiled.

“I am so ready. I can't believe you're letting me intrude on your holiday.”

“You kidding? I'm glad you're coming with me.”

He picked up her bag and fishing rod and placed them in the bed of the truck as she got into the passenger seat.

Merle started toward the highway as the radio played and he was giddy to be next to her.

“Did you want to continue with the questions?” she asked playfully.

“There ain't that much to know about me, but you're welcome to ask,” he grinned.

“Can I ask you something a little forward?”

“Go for it.”

“Were you disappointed that we were rescued?”

He could lie, it would be easy enough to do, but he just didn't feel like it anymore.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because I was enjoying your company.”

“So was I. Besides the fact that we could have run out of food, I would have happily stayed longer down there with you.”

Merle kept his eyes on the road, but his heart did a funny flip flop kind of thing in his chest.

“You gonna catch a bunch of fish with that old pole?” he winked.

“I am quite the fisherwoman,” she bragged. “I still don't like cleaning them, though.”

“Softy,” he teased.

Merle's little cabin was tucked back into the trees and easy to miss when you were driving past. It was an A-frame beauty from the 70s and she looked at it in awe as they pulled up the gravel driveway. He was excited to show her the sweet piece of land it was built on. There was a little creek running around back where he fished and walking trails for miles in the area. Daryl had paid for half of the cabin and the land, but he left it all to Merle when he moved away.

“This is so cool!” Miranda beamed as she slow-walked from the truck to the front door, her eyes drinking it all in and a look of wonderment on her pretty face.

“Come see the inside,” he grinned.

/

Miranda found her gaze being drawn up to an open loft where there were two small sleeping areas across from each other.

“I'll stay down here on the pull-out couch, so you can have all that space for yourself,” he noted.

“I wouldn't dream of it, we can share,” she insisted.

He shrugged nervously, and she chuckled to herself.

Over the next hour, Merle tidied up and offered her a cold beer which she happily accepted.

“What a dream this place is,” she sighed. “I can see why you were so excited to come here.”

“I love it here,” he smiled. “Did you want to put on a record?”

“I swear I don't even remember how,” she laughed.

He gave her a quick refresher and pointed to his crate of old vinyl.

“Put on anything you like.”

Miranda flipped through them until she came across the perfect album, nothing beat Ray Charles.

**_I'm gonna love you, like no one's loved you_ **   
**_Come rain or come shine_ **   
**_High as a mountain, deep as a river_ **   
**_Come rain or come shine_ **

**_I guess when you met me_ **   
**_It was just one of those things_ **   
**_But don't you ever bet me_ **   
**_'Cause I'm gonna be true if you let me_ **   
**_You're gonna love me, like nobody's loved me_ **   
**_Come rain or come shine_ **

  
She motioned for him to come closer and then pulled him into her arms for a slow dance.

“Do you mind?” she asked.

“Not even a little.”

He lay his big hands on her back and they moved just slowly to the music as she lay her cheek on his chest. Merle loved the feel of her so close to him and he couldn't wait to see what the rest of the week would bring.


	5. Chapter 5

_ **Chapter 5** _

Miranda danced with him to two more songs and he liked how spontaneous she was, she didn't appear to overthink anything.

They played almost all his albums as they talked, and he found that he became less nervous the more time they spent together. She drank three or four beer over the course of the afternoon and became gigglier but still had her wits about her.

“You want some food with that beer?” he teased around suppertime.

“I am pretty hungry actually,” she confessed.

“I'll cook you something good and then maybe we should turn in, we gotta try out your old fishing pole in the morning,” he joked.

“You laugh now but you just wait, I'll be putting supper on the table tomorrow.”

Merle grinned and watched as she lay back on the couch and stretched out her legs. She was so pretty and so fun, maybe with enough time, he could convince her to give him a shot.

He cooked up chicken and salad for her and she ate like she'd never seen food.

“I can't believe this salad! Little mandarin orange slices and sesame dressing, it's delicious!”

“Glad you like it. I live alone, and I like my food, so I watch cooking shows on TV,” he shrugged.

“I was right about you, you're fascinating.”

Merle left her on the couch after supper and went to take a shower. He imagined sleeping only a few feet away from her and he felt nervous and excited just to be so close to her. He still didn't know for sure what she thought of him even though she was acting very sweet and complimentary; maybe she was just really sweet. The hot water poured down on his head and he hissed and then groaned at how good it felt. He scrubbed himself clean and tried not to think about her sitting only on the other side of the door but then there was a knock.

“Hello?”

“I'm sorry, can I just pee really quick? Beer goes right through me.”

Merle looked at the semi-transparent shower curtain and winced, but he couldn't really say no.

“Sure.”

She walked in and he could see the silhouette of her sliding her shorts down her legs and then sitting on the toilet.

“I'm so sorry, I didn't want to go in the bushes alone in the dark,” she said as she peed.

“It's OK, I understand.”

Merle was holding his junk in both hands like a kid on the other side of the curtain. He waited for her to wash her hands and leave before he could breathe again.  
When he was done, he threw on a pair of sleep pants and walked out of the bathroom drying his hair with a towel.

“It's all yours,” he smiled. “I'll just be up in the loft if you're still sure it's OK.”

“I'm positive. I'll be right up.”

Merle waited, listening to her singing in the shower and wanting her more every single second. Being with her in this friendly/platonic way was painful but he still wouldn't trade it for anything.

When she emerged, she was in a t-shirt and panties and he just about died as she climbed the ladder to the loft and spent a good 3 minutes organizing things in her overnight bag. He jumped when her phone notified her of something, it was the same ring he had on his own phone, and it startled him out of his staring for a second, but only a second. Miranda looked at her phone quickly, sighed, and then put it down next to her pillow. He wondered who was texting her so late and then forgot all about it when he was treated with a little flash of her ass cheek as she moved. She was on her knees with her back to him and all he could do was stare at her white panties and her shapely legs.

“This is the coolest place, Merle,” she smiled as she finally got under the blanket.

Merle was on the other side of the loft and semi-hard under the covers, trying to suppress sexual thoughts of her.

“It's cozy,” he nodded. “You got enough blankets and everything?”

“I'm good,” she smiled. “Merle?”

“Yeah?”

“Did you want to talk for a little bit, or are you ready to sleep?”

“We could talk. What do you want to talk about?”

“You're so far away, can I come closer?”

Merle shifted and try to tell his dick to calm down, but he told her yes anyway.

“You're so big and cozy to cuddle up to,” she said as she got up and crawled toward him.

This was some kind of torture, he was sure of it.

Merle didn't know what the hell she really wanted but it felt like a romantic thing to him. He had never lay half-naked in a bed with a woman he wasn't sleeping with.

She slithered in next to him and he had to pull some of the quilt between them and reprimanded his dick to calm the fuck down.

“Do you work out?” she asked, and he wondered where the hell such a question came from.

“No. why?” he answered.

“Cause your body is incredible, it looks like you spend a lot of time at the gym.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes.”

She rolled toward him and he looked across her neck and shoulders hungrily.

“I played a little football in school, but I never set foot in a gym before, I just keep busy.”

Miranda's hand reached out and touched his chest and he loved the way it felt, he wanted so much more of her touch.

“What are you thinking?” she asked.

“I'm thinking that this is nice.”

“I'm glad we got trapped together, I always wanted to get closer to you.”

“You did?”

Merle was aching for her in every way, being so close to her and wanting her the way he did was agony.

“Can I tell you something kinda silly?”

“Tell me anything you want.”

“I had to search for an original copy of that Beatles album for weeks before one turned up in Germany and then I had to pay an extra $25 shipping,” she giggled.

“Jesus! You didn't have to go to that much trouble, Miranda! I woulda been fine with anything.”

Merle imagined her scouring the internet for something specific for him and it just didn't compute.

“I wanted to. I really wanted you to know that I was listening and that I cared.”

Merle melted into a puddle of emotion, but he was a man, so he stuffed it down enough to keep it together.

“You made my Christmas,” he answered, and then he felt her hand touch his. “Miranda-”

“Tell me the first thing on your mind.”

“You.”

She grinned in the dim glow of the loft.

“What about me?”

“You really wanna know?”

“Yes.”

“I keep wondering why you're with me now and then I think that it doesn't matter...I'm just glad you're here.”

“I always suspected that there was more to you than met the eye and I was right. I'm really enjoying being with you, Merle.”

“Good,” he smiled and ran his fingertips down her arm. “Wanna see something cool?”

“Sure,” she giggled.

Merle squirmed out of bed then, to get to his feet and pulled down a dark blue curtain covering the skylight. He and Daryl had put it in the year before, but he kept it covered when he wasn't staying there to stop it from getting covered in spiderwebs, spiders always found their way inside.

“Stop it!” she squealed. “You can see the treetops and stars and everything!”

“It's nice, hey?”

“Merle...it's beautiful. Come here.”

He lay back down next to her and she moved into her spot at his side. They looked up at the moonlit sky and the branches blowing in the wind against the stars and velvet blue canvas.

Merle imagined himself there alone as it had been planned and felt her breathing against his chest softly and slowly, he was so happy he could hardly contain it.

“I could stay in your arms all night,” she yawned.

“You can if you want to.”

Miranda looked up at his face and grinned.

“I will then if you're offering…all this fresh air wipes me out and you’re so warm…”

Merle was awake for a long time after she drifted off and he felt great. He obviously wished for more, but something told him that it was possible if he stayed patient. Either way, they could enjoy the week and just see where things went. He didn't know he could fall so deeply in love in just one day, but he had.


	6. Chapter 6

_ **If I needed someone - The Beatles** _

[ _**https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kt5OoWr4v1k** _ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kt5OoWr4v1k)

* * *

_ **Chapter 6** _

Miranda rolled over and yawned loudly with a laborious stretch the next morning and he smiled at her goofy wake-up routine.

“Morning,” she grumbled and then rolled back into his arms.

“Good morning.”

“I was so much more tired than I thought, I’m sorry. Sometimes I kinda pass out without a lot of warning.”

“It’s OK.”

“I just felt so cozy next to you,” she moaned.

He wondered if the whole week would be spent in the dark, but he didn’t mind either way. He just liked having her close.

/

Merle suggested breakfast and then fishing, and Miranda seemed to love that plan. He was lucky enough to have a private fishing hole just a short walk from the back of his cabin where nobody else fished but him and Daryl.

After a breakfast of oatmeal and fruit, he walked her there in the morning sunshine. She was wearing a pair of denim overall shorts and a red tank top that claimed every bit of his attention. He didn’t see women in overalls that often and her bare legs looked so strong and yet so soft to the touch. He wanted to know if he could have more with her, but he had to wait to find out.

They sat on a tiny 6 foot by 4-foot dock to bait their hooks over a running creek and she removed her sandals to get comfortable. She was leaving him weak, her body spread out in the sunshine was something to behold.

/

They fished for a while, tossing back the little fish and claiming about 3 for their pail filled with ice to take back.

“It’s so peaceful out here,” she grinned up at the sky with her legs dangling off the edge of the dock later that morning. The way she was just laying there, her legs parted just a few inches and her hands behind her head as a pillow…he couldn’t help staring.

“Sure is.”

She noticed his eyes pouring over her body and grinned up at him.

“What?”

“Nothing…well, maybe I was checking you out a little,” he confessed.

“Maybe I was checking you out earlier too…in the shower?”

“What?” he grinned.

“Nothing! I didn’t say a word, you can’t prove anything,” she giggled, and he bent down to splash her with water from the pond.

“Hey!” she squealed. “Now it’s on!”

She let her legs slip into the shallow water and the next thing he knew, she was yanking him in with surprising strength.

She leaped up into his arms and tried to pull him under, but he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her under to dunk them both instead.

It felt like being kids again, they chased each other around the pond scaring away every fish in the site and splashed like children, laughing hysterically all the while. Miranda held on with her arms draped around his neck when she ran out of breath and her laughter died down as she looked into his eyes.

“You’re a hoot, Merle Dixon…this is the best Easter I ever had.”

“Me too, honey.”

He realized he called her honey only a moment after it slipped out, but she seemed to like it.

“I’m thinking of a pet name for you now?” she teased.

“Uh oh,” he answered, playing around that he didn’t really want one from her when he really did.

“I think I’ll call you baby,” she decided.

“Ain’t that a name for a girl?”

“Nope, it’s perfect for you.”

“Why me?”

“I don’t know, I just think it works…you’re sweet.”

“You mean ‘this is my brother, he’s really sweet!’, like that kind of sweet?” he groaned.

“No, like ‘this guy is the whole package, he’s handsome as hell and still knows how to treat a woman’ sweet.”

“Ahhhh!”

“Stop taking everything the wrong way, baby! I like you!” she laughed and splashed him again.

The hours drifted by swiftly and before they knew it, the sun was starting to sink below the trees.

“Wanna go inside now?” he suggested when he noticed her shivering.

“Sounds good,” she agreed.

/

Back in the cabin, Merle cleaned the fish in the sink and put the filets in the freezer for later. She was sprawled out on the couch watching him and he was about done playing games. They spoke so easily on the dock and they could make each other laugh. Whenever he told a joke she'd lay her hand on his thigh and lean her head against his shoulder...he was getting too weak to keep it casual.

"Did you want a glass of wine?" he asked from the kitchen when he was finished scrubbing his hands.

"I'd love one."

Merle put on the record she bought him for Christmas and began to search the cupboards for a bottle of the sweet wine that Carol liked. He poured her a glass of blackberry wine and came to sit next to her on the couch, twisting the cap off a beer for himself.

_**If I needed someone to love** _   
_**You're the one that I'd be thinking of** _   
_**If I needed someone** _

_**If I had some more time to spend  
Then I guess I'd be with you, my friend  
If I needed someone ** _   
_**Had you come some other day** _   
_**Then it might not have been like this** _   
_**But you see now I'm too much in love** _

_**Carve your number on my wall** _   
_**And maybe you will get a call from me** _   
_**If I needed someone** _

She lifted her legs to lay them across his lap and he smiled down at her bare skin, not knowing where to put his hands at first. He settled on laying his left hand on her knee and she took a sip of the wine and moaned in pleasure.

"This is delicious," she exclaimed.

"A guy around here makes it from local berries, I've been buying his wine for years."

"It's really good...so."

"So?"

"I had a really good time today."

"Me too. It was nice to have someone to fish with."

Miranda closed her eyes and let out a slow breath like she had never been so at peace and Merle looked down at her soft skin under his hand.

"You up for more questions?" he asked.

"Sure, you go first," she grinned.

"What did your ex do for a living?"

"That's a weird question," she laughed. "He was an investor."

"Oh…your turn.”

"Why do you want to know that?"

"Is this your question?" he teased.

"Yes."

"I just wanted to know what kind of man you look for. I kinda figured he'd have a fancy job like you."

"That's not important to me. I thought he was different...but he didn't even love me. Your turn."

"Do you think we'd ever be talking like this if we hadn't been locked in the basement?"

"I hoped we would. It took me a while to get over what happened in my marriage...I guess giving you that album was me trying to reach out to you."

"It meant a lot to me, but I didn't know what it meant, I guess I still don't."

"It meant that I want to get closer to you and now that I have, I think I know what I wanted to know in the first place."

"And what's that?" he asked, taking a swig of his beer and then leaning forward to put the empty bottle on the table.

"I wanted to know if we could be compatible."

"And?"

"I think we are...I think you may be just who I've been looking for."

"Even if I'm a janitor?"

"You're a lot more than you're job, Merle."

"You're sweet, Miranda. Been so long since I had anyone be this good to me."

“What actually happened with Sarah? What did she do to you, Merle?”

He didn’t want to think of it, but maybe it would help her understand his insecurity if he put it all into words.

“I asked her to move in with me after we were seeing each other for a couple of months. I met her when she was on the rebound, so maybe I should have seen it coming but I didn’t.”

“Did she really just up and leave?” Miranda asked softly when he paused to breathe.

“I went to work that morning and she was in my bed just like every morning and I had no idea that’s the last time I’d see her. I got home after work and it’s like she’d never been there at all. She left me a letter saying she was going back to her ex and that was it. I tried to call but she never picked up.”

“Jesus.”

“If I’m a little messed up, that’s why. It’s hard for me to trust when things are good now. It’s like the better things are going, the less I trust it. Sad, huh?”

“I understand…thanks for telling me about that. I know it can’t be easy to talk about.”

“It isn’t…did I scare you away yet?” he chuckled and when he looked back at her the answer was so clear that she wasn’t going anywhere.

“I think I’m ready for bed…will you take me?” she grinned, and he sensed something in her voice then, something meant to draw him closer and it was working like a charm.


	7. Chapter 7

_ **Chapter 7** _

Merle watched as she walked ahead of him to the ladder and climbed up to the loft, he could feel in the air that something was different.

He turned off all the lights except one lamp on the lower level and climbed the ladder to see what the next hour held for him.

Under the blankets, they lay next to each other face to face for a moment until she broke the silence with words.

“Remember when I told you what I think about when I touch myself?”

“Yeah,” he smiled. “Can’t stop thinkin’ about it if I’m being honest.”

“I didn’t tell you everything I think about, cause I wasn’t sure what you’d say, but I think I could tell you now.”

“I’m all ears,” he pressed.

“Sometimes, when I get really needy, I think of this guy I know…”

“Oh yeah?” he played along, presuming that she meant him and praying that he was right.

“This one time, he was laying on his back under a sink, fixing a leak. His legs were spread wide and the muscles of his arms looked so strong as he worked on the pipe over his head. Normally he wears these grey coveralls that I find really sexy, but on this day, it was just jeans and a t-shirt. He was telling me about his favorite album and all I could think of, besides where I’d find the album for him, was how much heat he was packing.”

“Damn,” he whispered, looking right into her eyes, only inches away.

“I don’t think I ever wanted a man more than in that moment, but I couldn’t think of what to say. Ever since that afternoon, I can’t seem to stop thinking about him. His shirt was pulled up just a few inches above his belt…and that bare skin wouldn’t stop drawing my eyes…I wanted to kiss him right there so badly.”

It was unthinkable that she wanted him like this, he couldn’t articulate his joy and his disbelief.

“Please, say something,” she begged after a moment.

“I just can’t believe it…I never would have guessed anything like this.”

“Are you happy?” she almost pleaded.

“I’m blown away, I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy, Miranda.”

Like slides on a projected screen, he watched in snapshots as her hand reached out to touch his shoulder and her beautiful face moved closer. Merle went in for a kiss, slow and soft, allowing the moment to unfurl like a ribbon in the wind.

Miranda pulled his mouth into her neck after a moment and she tasted like a summer day, warm and a little salty with sweat. Merle held her close to him, his heart exploding in a hundred directions and his body on fire with lust. He moved over her and looked down lovingly into her eyes just like in his best fantasies, all he needed were the words ‘I love you.’

Her legs enveloped him, and her hands held his face as they kissed, she was everything to him then, the air and all other elements.

“What are you thinking?” she panted as she moved her kisses to his neck.

“That this can’t be real,” he answered honestly.

“It’s real, baby…this is just as good as I knew it would be.”

“Kissin’ you is the stuff of dreams, honey.”

Her hand drifted down from his chest to the waistband of his pants and he prayed that she’d be happy with him in every way. Merle wanted to be her man, and her liking his body mattered, it was always a moment that made a man nervous, but she appeared to be impressed.

“Mmmm…I want this,” she whispered.

“It’s all yours, take it all, honey. My body, my soul, it’s all yours.”

She paused for a moment to smile up at him and simply whispered, “Same.”

She stoked his fire with her warm hand as they kissed, and it drove him wilder for her with each passing second. He dropped his forehead to the pillow beside her face and surrendered to the sweet sensation of her touch and the knowledge that she wanted him back.

/

Miranda smiled to herself as he moaned in her ear like nobody had ever so much as touched him. He needed it and she could feel it in his response, he needed to be loved good and proper and she was the woman to do it.

He finally regained his strength and began to descend her body, undressing her slow and kissing every piece of newly revealed skin. His mouth laying warm wet kisses over her breasts and then trailing down to her lower belly.

Merle Dixon was painfully hot with his massive arms and broad chest; he brought it home like she knew he would when he finally went down.

Miranda hissed with anticipation when he tossed her panties over his shoulder and moved in to take her over. His lips met with hers and he kept it so simple for over a minute, just soft little kisses all over her lips and then his warm soft tongue slid between them.

“Oh, sweet Jesus! Yes!” she gasped, and her hands groped down between her legs for his hair.

He was unstoppable and hungry for her in every way. She felt his fingers at the entrance of her body and realized that he was keeping them there to tease her, moving them just slightly as she burned for penetration.

“Please,” she begged, and he obeyed, sliding them into her while his mouth and tongue never let up all over her pussy.

It was too much, and she soon informed him of that with her body and words.

“Oh God! Oh my God, Merle...Mmmmm!”

Miranda felt alive with passion and swiftly had him on his back up in the loft as she climbed over him, tearing his clothes from his body to get to his skin.

/

She was on fire and he was thrilled to have pleased her.

Soon she was licking up and down his shaft and driving him insane, then taking him into her impossibly soft mouth to finish the job.

“Feel good, baby?” she asked when her mouth wasn’t busy for a moment.

“Feels like heaven, honey. It’s all heaven with you.”

She got him so close, but he wanted more, so he stopped her.

“Do you want to go all the way?” he asked and apparently, she found that cute.

“I was wondering where that phrase went, glad you’re reviving it,” she winked. “And yes, I want to go all the way.”

“What about-” he began.

“I’m on birth control still, and I don’t have anything.”

“Me neither.”

“Then take me, baby.”

He didn’t need to be told twice, it already felt like he’d been waiting years. Merle eased himself between her soft white thighs and kissed her slow and sensual. He could feel his dick right at her entrance and simply moved into her as they kissed.

Her fingers gripped his shoulders as she took him in, a deep moan escaping her lips through hot kisses.

Fucking Miranda Cole was heaven, there were no two ways about it. She made him feel like the best version of himself like he was worthy and all that she needed.

It didn’t take him long to reach his limit, it had been a while and he hoped she wouldn’t doubt his stamina. Merle came within five minutes like a kid and collapsed next to her feeling like he’d run a marathon.

“Been a while, honey…sorry, you did me in.”

“That was incredible,” she grinned with her eyes closed, a dopey smile plastered across her perfect face.

/

Merle held her for a long time until she had to get up to use the washroom and felt like the king of the universe.

Her phone buzzed, and Merle rolled over to look at it, thinking it was his again because they had the same alert sound.

_**\- Miranda, I hope this isn’t too forward, and I know it’s Easter holiday, but I wanted to know if you’d like to go to dinner and a show. My firm has great theatre tickets and I’d love to take you if you’d be interested. I know it’s probably the least professional thing I could ask after serving as your divorce lawyer, and I understand if it’s too weird for you, but I had to ask.** _

_**Jeff** _

He frowned at the message and wondered what she would reply to it when she finally did. It scared him, and he considered deleting it to prevent her from ever seeing it but decided not to. If she had a better option out there, she had every right to know it. If she was meant to be his, she would be, and if she wanted to go, he knew that he couldn’t stop her. Merle loved her too much already to keep her with him dishonestly.


	8. Chapter 8

_ **Chapter 8** _

Merle couldn’t help pouring over it in his mind, a fancy lawyer was asking Miranda out and here she was in an old cabin with a janitor.

“Hey, you,” she whispered when she returned and crawled back under the covers with him.

“Hey you,” he smiled.

“I can’t believe this happened,” she sighed and snuggled into his chest.

“Me neither, had to pinch myself, it feels like a dream.”

“I’ve wanted you for a long time, Merle, but I never knew how to tell you. I guess it took being trapped with you to get me to work up the courage”

“Getting locked in that basement was the best thing that ever happened to me,” he grinned.

“Amen to that,” she groaned.

Merle wanted to ask about the message but couldn’t think of a way and didn’t want to come across as insecure only minutes after sex. He let it go and just held her for the night, allowing himself to just take in the moment and enjoy the way she felt in his arms.

/

The rest of the week was as amazing as the first couple of days and he didn’t want it to end. They had no Easter dinner, no eggs or chocolate, but they had each other.

Merle made love to her every chance he got and held her every night. They fished and slow danced to his old records. He drank scotch and she drank wine. The stars overhead shined a little brighter just for them, he had the world and all it’s charms that week.

Merle wanted to check her messages on many occasions to see if she responded to her lawyer but stopped himself every time he reached for her phone. He believed her when she said that she wanted him, but there would always be a little part of him that remembered Sarah leaving so unexpectedly. He hadn’t seen it coming at all until he came home from work to find nothing but a letter from her explaining that her love was gone from his life and would never be back.

/

On the drive back to town he gripped the wheel a little tighter and bit his lip with anxious energy.

“You OK?” she asked.

“Yeah, I’m great,” he assured her.

Merle didn’t want to come across as incredibly insecure, that would get old fast.

“Tell me what’s wrong,” she pressed because she knew him better than he thought.

“Just wondering what people will say at work, I’m just being stupid,” he shrugged.

“What if they do say something? Will it change anything for you?”

“Hell no.”

“That’s how I feel too, so don’t worry about it.”

“OK. Thanks.”

“I had an amazing week, Merle.”

“Me too. Best time I ever had.”

“What are you up to tonight?” she asked.

“Nothing much, laundry most likely.”

“Me too. Did you want to go for a proper date tomorrow night?”

“You’re asking me out?” he winked.

“I can be the man in this relationship too, right?” she laughed.

“Anytime you like,” he grinned.

He drove her back home and kissed her long and slow at the door before letting her go. The text message was lingering in the back of his mind, but she was still acting like she hadn’t even seen it. Nothing about her said that she was considering another man.

“Goodnight, honey,” he smiled as he let her go.

“Night, baby,” she grinned.

He loved her calling him baby more than he ever expected to.

/

Merle woke up bright and early, ate breakfast, grabbed a coffee and was at the school before everyone else as usual.

Stanley was sitting in their ‘office’ reading through the paper when he came in and nodded a hello to him.

“How was your Easter?” Merle asked,

“Huh?”

Merle sighed, he had to repeat everything to poor Stanley.

“Why don’t you get one of them hearing aides, Stanley?” he almost shouted.

“That’s an idea,” Stanley agreed.

“Yeah! So, get one!” Merle laughed.

Merle was organizing boxes in the basement later that morning where he’d been trapped so sweetly with Miranda when he encountered a couple of female teachers from the English department.

“Hey there, Mr. Dixon,” one of them said unexpectedly.

“Hey,” he answered, wondering why anyone was talking to him.

“So, we hear that you were with Miranda over the holiday.”

“Huh?”

Had Miranda actually told people at the school about them? He certainly didn’t mind, but he was surprised.

“You and she went to your cabin for the whole week?” the other teacher pressed.

“Did she tell you about this?” he asked.

“She mentioned it to another biology teacher in confidence, but it doesn’t take long for news this spicy to travel,” the first teacher giggled.

“Spicy?”

“From what we heard, she’s head over heels and you two are already quite the item.”

“Well, I guess so. She’s my girlfriend now so yeah, I guess so.”

“Guess she’s quite a step up for you,” the first teacher winked.

“Stop it,” the second one gasped in phony surprise. “That’s so rude, Martha!”

Merle had the feeling that he was the object of ridicule with these gossiping women, but he wasn’t about to let them off the hook without a word.

“Maybe she is too good for me, according to people like you, but she doesn’t see it like that. She likes me just the way I am,” he huffed and moved passed them and up the stairs to get away.

He wondered who he was trying to convince more, himself or the English teachers. The truth was that the message still had him concerned and he felt like a twit about it.

Merle expected a little drama but hadn’t really counted on people doing it right to his face. He had expected a little discretion.

He was just sitting down to his first coffee break with Stanley when she texted him to say hello an hour later.

_**\- How’s your morning going? Xo** _

_**\- Pretty good, a couple of English teachers had a good chuckle at my expense, but pretty good. lol** _

_**\- What happened?** _

_**\- Nothing, they just heard that we were together over the holiday and let me know how pleased I should be to be dating above my station.** _

_**\- Are you serious? I’m so sorry. I only mentioned it to one friend because I was excited. I never thought she’d say anything.** _

_**\- It’s fine, honey, don’t worry about it. Just a heads up that it looks like everyone knows.** _

_**\- They can print it in the newspaper for all I care, but I don’t want anyone being a bitch to you about it.** _

_**\- I can handle it, I only care what you think anyway.** _

_**\- I think you’re incredible. Xoxo** _

_**\- I think you’re the most beautiful woman on Earth.** _

_**\- Honey-tongue** _ _**😉** _

_**\- You know it** _ _**😉** _


	9. Chapter 9

_ **Chapter 9** _

Merle let all the worry go that night, he was going out with Miranda in public as her man and nothing else mattered.

He called her at 5:30 to see when she’d like to be picked up, to which she answered, “As soon as possible, baby, I’m starving.”

“Be right there.”

She mentioned a steakhouse and he liked her moxy, she wasn’t afraid to eat or drink around him. Miranda lived as herself and didn’t wear masks for certain people. He put on a dark wash pair of jeans, a white dress shirt he’d worn to a funeral once, and a leather jacket that had seen better days. Merle called his brother to ask about his outfit, something he’d never normally do, and Daryl assured him it was fine.

“Who is this woman?” Daryl pressed.

“A teacher at the school I work at, she’s really something. Maybe we can all get together next time you and Carol come to town.”

“Sure thing, good luck on your date, brother.”

“Thanks.”

/

He pulled up outside her house and walked up the path to her door. She answered in a black dress and heels, pulling him in for a kiss before they departed and praising his choice in clothing.

“Very sexy, put together, and yet casual. I love it.”

“I tried,” he shrugged, opening the truck door for her.

She ordered medium rare steak with tomato salad at dinner and somehow, watching her devour it filled him with ravenous need. Miranda took everything in without reservation; food, sex, joy.

She tipped the plate to her lips at the end of the meal just, so she wouldn’t miss any blood mixed with tomato juice, he wanted to fuck her right then and there.

“I love the way you eat,” he growled, reaching across the table to touch her hand.

“The way I eat?”

“You eat like you fuck, you don’t miss a single thing…you’re ravenous.”

Her eyes burned across the table and they turned down dessert to get back to her place all that much sooner.

Miranda reached across the bench seat to feel him up through his jeans as he drove, begging him to drive faster.

“I need you,” she pressed. “I can’t wait another minute.”

/

Her home was like out of a catalog, nothing like his home, but it didn’t matter at that moment.

She unzipped her own dress as soon as they entered the foyer and shrugged out of it as he was still kicking off his boots.

“Where?” he asked.

“On the couch…I’m going to take back your favorite sexual position from that bitch who left you.”

“Huh?”

“Sit.”

Merle was walked backward to the couch as she tossed his jacket to the side and unbuttoned his shirt. Lastly, she yanked at his belt and dropped his jeans to the floor.

Merle was urged down onto her couch with nothing but his pants around his ankles and watched as she peeled her panties down her legs and abandoned her bra.

“When you think of this position now, I only want you to think of me,” she whispered as she sank down smoothly on his lap.

His arms were filled with her and she kissed his neck hungrily and licked the shell of his ear as he sensed her wet lips teasing the head of his cock.

“Jesus…you’re so wet, honey.”

“You do that to me, baby…you make me need you this way.”

She kissed his mouth and he clung to her, relishing the weight of her on his thighs and needing to be inside her.

Miranda took him in slowly when it was time and he groaned in agony, taking her right nipple into his mouth and chasing away the memory of Sarah.

“It’s just us now,” she moaned, “just me and you.”

Miranda fucked him right out of his mind on her couch, riding him and moaning out his name over and over.

She was drowning out the memory of Sarah for good and he’d never connect his favorite position with her again.

He came into her with his face pressed to her chest, the sweat of his forehead blending with the glistening of her breasts.

“Damn, honey,” he groaned. “You do me so good…so right.”

“Tell me you’ll stay the night,” she panted as he lay her down on the couch afterward.

“Anything you want, honey. Anything.”

Her queen-sized bed was covered in a floral bedspread and the room was spotless like a show home master suite. They were opposites in all the things that didn’t really matter, but in love, they were twin souls. Nothing about them made sense, but he cared less and less as the days passed. Merle needed her and that’s all he knew for sure.

/

He had to be at the school before her and he didn’t have a change of clothes after his impromptu sleepover.

“Honey…I gotta run home to change for work.”

“Mmmmm,” she moaned. “What time is it?”

“6 am, you keep sleeping and I’ll see you at school.”

Miranda opened her eyes and then sat up halfway to kiss him goodbye.

“What a night,” she grinned as she lay back down and stretched.

“You can say that again,” he agreed.

“What a night,” she repeated and then giggled. “See you later.”

“Later, honey.”

/

It was a bright spring day, so Merle decided to spend the morning outside planting flowers with Stanley. He was in a great mood, his head filled with plans for the future with Miranda. He was still getting a few weird looks around the school, but he couldn’t care less when he thought back to the night before or the week at the cabin.

Miranda was his girl and nothing anyone said could change that.

Merle walked back indoors around lunchtime to wash the potting soil from his hands and get ready to clean up after the lunchroom in the cafeteria. He was just thinking about him and Miranda living together when one of the male teachers slapped him on the back.

“Nice touch, Dixon. Women always give it up for roses,” he chuckled.

“Huh?”

“A dozen red roses delivered right to her classroom, it’s a nice touch. Gotta cement that relationship before she comes to, hey?”

“Uh…yeah,” Merle answered although he was still in the dark.

Apparently, Miranda had another admirer and he didn’t have to wonder for long who it was.

All the usual stupid questions filled his mind as he tried to shoe them away, but it was no use. The trauma of finding himself alone when Sarah left was still there in the back of his head, he still didn't know what he'd done wrong or why he wasn't enough for her.

_Had she answered Jeff back?_

_Was she seeing another man just like Sarah was?_

_Could he have read the whole thing wrong?_

_Was every touch and every look a lie?_

He assured himself that it was all nonsense as he headed to her classroom before the afternoon bell rang. He just wanted to see for himself that it was nothing and that he was being ridiculous and that’s when he spotted the same two female teachers standing outside her door.

“Hey, Merle,” one of them frowned. “They’ve been in there a while.”

“Who?” he asked, but he knew damn well who it was.

Merle looked through the window in the door to see her leaning against her desk and laughing at something a man was saying to her. Her head was thrown back a little and she looked beautiful, she looked perfect with the tall handsome man in the suit. This was Jeff, he just knew it.

“Sorry, Merle. These things happen.”

He was still trying to tell himself that it was not what it seemed, even as the man leaned in to whisper something in her ear, his hand moving in to touch her waist.

The two women continued to talk as if he wasn’t even there and he sighed at the sight before him, this was it.

Maybe it wasn’t what he thought, but he still couldn’t be there anymore. He skipped out early, telling Stanley that he had a toothache and went home to get his thoughts together. Normally, he’d fly off the handle a little and run to her begging for her to tell him everything was OK, but he was getting too old for that, and instead, he just wanted to be alone and wait for the truth. He received a text from her by the end of the school day and couldn’t seem to answer her, he couldn’t think of what to say.

\- Hey, Merle, are you OK? Stanley said you left early, something about an earache? I was hoping we could talk. Call me.

It was just like Stanley to get the message wrong and he didn’t much care. An ominous ‘hoping we could talk’ was not the message he had hoped for, so he locked himself in and decided to pretend that everything was OK for just one more night.


	10. Chapter 10

_ **Chapter 10** _

She called twice more that evening and he almost expected her to show up at his door, but she didn’t.

He tossed around the idea of skipping work again, but he needed the money, so he went in knowing it would mean hearing the truth.

Merle just wished she hadn’t played it so convincingly, they could have just fucked for a week without her making him fall so hard. It could have just been sex, she didn’t have to make him fall in love with her.

He tried to think of any way that her giggling with this man-made any sense, but it just didn’t.

“Merle?”

He looked up from his cleaning supply order sheet and saw her face at his office door.

“Hey.”

“Where were you? I tried to get a hold of you last night.”

“Sorry, I didn’t feel well.”

He waited for the other shoe to drop and didn’t give her much line to work with.

“Is everything OK?” she asked.

“You tell me.”

“What does that mean?”

“Did you think I wouldn’t hear about you getting roses from someone else? Did you think I wouldn’t hear about you talking to another man in your class? Hell, I saw it with my own eyes.”

“Merle, it’s not what you think.”

“OK. What is it? Cause it looks to me like you have a fancy lawyer asking you out and sending you flowers, Miranda.”

“How did you-”

“Yeah, I saw the message at the cabin. I wasn’t snooping, it was an accident, but I told myself that you wanted me, and it wouldn’t change anything. I’m so stupid.”

Miranda looked angry then and told him he should have more faith in people.

“You said it’s not what I think, so what was it?” he pressed. “Are you different than Sarah or not?”

“I was fucked around just like you, remember? I’ve been there too, and you really think I’d do that to you?”

He knew then that he messed up just by the look on her face, but he still wanted to know the truth.

“What was it, Miranda? Why was he here? Why was he sending you flowers?”

“If you don’t trust me, then nothing I say will matter anyway, will it?”

She walked out of his office then and he wanted to chase after her, but not in front of the whole school. He decided to let her cool down and go see her that night even though a little part of him still wanted the explanation.

/

“What’s going on with you and Ms. Cole? She sounds pissed,” Stanley asked, walking in from the hallway.

Merle realized that he probably heard most of it and sighed as he explained the whole story.

“Go talk to her,” Stanley suggested.

“I don’t even know what to say though, she probably hates me.”

“If she hated you, she wouldn’t have been so upset.”

“Yeah?”

“Sure. Why would she bother?”

“You wanna go for a beer first?” Merle proposed.

“Sure. Give her a minute to cool down, hey?” Stanley chuckled.

“Yep. It will give me a minute to think of how to dig myself out of this hole too. I really screwed this up, I think.”

/

Merle ordered a third round and poured out his heart to Stanley about his week with Miranda and about everything that happened with Sarah.

“I don’t think she’s the type to cheat and why would she do it in the school you both work in? Not exactly sneaky,” Stanley noted.

“You got a real point there, old buddy. I just made a total ass out of myself with a woman who was so far out of my league it ain’t even funny.”

Just then a barmaid placed a glass of scotch in front of him and a glass of beer in front of Stanley.

“I didn’t order this,” he explained, and the barmaid pointed to the bar two tables away. Jeff nodded to them and raised his glass.

“You win, buddy. She’s all yours,” he muttered. “Couldn’t help overhearing that you’re the one Miranda picked over me.”

“What are you talkin’ about?” he asked.

“I did try to take her from you, but you win. You must be a demon in bed, brother,” the man chuckled to himself.

“What was all that about in her classroom then? You two looked pretty cozy to me,” Merle huffed.

“What was I supposed to do, cry?” the man scoffed. “I acted like it was nothing and lived to tell the tale. You don’t go crying to a woman in public when she turns you down for a janitor. I have my pride.”

“So, you two aren’t a thing then?” Merle clarified.

“Haven’t you talked to her?” the man asked.

“Uh…of course I have.”

“You went and snapped on her about it, didn’t you?” the man laughed.

“Shut up,” Merle huffed.

“Hey! Maybe I’m still in with a chance if I hurry.”

“Hey, fuck you, pal! I’m gonna go fix this,” Merle asserted as he pulled out his phone to call a cab.

Jeff laughed to himself and shot back a whiskey as he watched a football game on the screen above the bar.

“Tell me though, did she answer you when you texted her?” Merle asked when he hung up with the cab company.

“When I asked her to the theatre?”

“Yeah.”

“See for yourself.”

Merle looked at the phone he held out and saw nothing, she didn’t even bother answering him to say no and Merle wondered why.

“I figured I may as well ask her out in person at the school if she wasn’t answering via text, then she explained that she was busy with you all week,” Jeff explained.

“She actually likes me,” Merle muttered.

“She chose you over me, what does that tell you, besides that she doesn’t have any taste,” Jeff grumbled.

“Fuck off, Jeff,” Merle shot back and said goodbye to Stanley as he left to try and make amends.

/

Merle arrived at her place in the dark and knocked on her door with absolutely no words planned.

He saw her peek at him through the living room curtains and then she opened the door.

“What do you want?”

“I want to tell you I’m sorry,” he said plainly.

“That’s it? You basically accuse me of cheating and the word sorry is supposed to fix everything, you really hurt me, Merle.”

“I was so stupid, Miranda, I’m sorry. I should have known you wouldn’t do that. I fucked up.”

“You really did.”

“I never thought Sarah would either though…I just felt so safe with you so fast and then I thought that I must be wrong. It’s just that a guy like Jeff has it all and I have nothing to really offer you.”  
“After that week together and the way we made love last night, you still doubted it?” she exclaimed.

“Made love?” he smiled.

“Merle! Focus! You still doubted how I feel for you after all that, and it’s not fair to me. I’m not a cheater.”

“I know, and I’m really sorry I hurt you. I don’t actually believe that you’d do that to me, I just fucked up.”

“I know it’s not easy to trust again,” she sighed. “Maybe if someone was chasing you after what happened to me…maybe I’d be scared too.”

“I want you for myself so bad and when a man like Jeff comes along, I wonder if I’m enough for a woman like you. This all seemed to happen by chance, getting locked up with you and everything…I guess it just felt like maybe it could end as easily as it began.”

“You just don’t have a clue, do you?”

“I guess not.”

“I love you, Merle.”

“You do?”

“Don’t you love me too?” she smiled.

“Of course! Shit! I just screwed this up too,” he groaned.

“Just say it out loud and I’ll forgive you, I want to hear it,” she grinned.

“I love you, Miranda.”

“There you go,” she relented, shaking her head and pulling him into her arms. “Can I ask you one more thing?”

“Ask me anything?”

“Do you want to go all the way again?”

“Hell yes!”


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a oneshot that grew, I hope you all liked it.   
> Thanks so much for reading! xoxo

_**The BRILLIANT Otis Redding** _

_**~ A Home in your Heart**_

[ _**https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g8M75EWWsY** _ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g8M75EWWsY)

* * *

_ **Chapter 11** _

“You ready?” Merle shouted from the bottom of the stairs.

He was eager to get going, they were going to be gone for all of July, just him and his girl at the cabin. He couldn’t wait.

“Where’s my fishing pole?” she hollered back.

“It’s in the truck already.”

“Oh.”

“Couldn’t forget that silly old thing, it does work after all,” he laughed.

Miranda ran down the stairs and carried her cat carrier to the neighbor’s house for the month.

“Drop off that evil thing and let’s go,” he teased.

/

The highway lay out before them and he cranked up the music with his hand resting on her bare thigh.

_**Don't you know I got to find me a home  
Right now in your heart** _

_**I'll travel over miles and down the highways, babe** _   
_**Through the valleys every byway** _   
_**Just to find me a home right now in your heart** _

_**I'll bring you to the music, refueling** _   
_**Everything you want to** _   
_**Everything you need babe** _   
_**Just to have me a home right now in your heart** _

“I was starting to think that school year would never end,” Miranda sighed as her hair blew in the breeze coming in through the window. She was in a slinky white sundress covered in tiny little flowers, Merle wanted to rip it off of her body as soon as he got the chance, but for now it looked pretty.

“Amen to that, I’ll miss that place next year,” he smiled.

“No you won’t, you’re gonna be your own boss and it’s going to be amazing.”

“I sure hope so,” he winced.

“Dixon Contractors,” she sighed. “You’re gonna be a massive success and you know it.”

“I ain’t even thinking about it until we get back, this month is all about you and me,” he grinned.

“I love you, baby.”

“Love you too, honey.”

/

The cabin was just like she remembered from the first time, except this time it wasn’t new, this was their place.

Merle lived with her now and things were moving fast but she was 100% sure about Merle Dixon so it didn’t scare her one bit.

She walked to his record player and put on a record to stop him unpacking and drag him into a slow dance. He was a Beatles man and she had developed a taste for Otis Redding.

_**I want me somebody to hold my hand** _   
_**Somebody to love me and understand** _   
_**I want me a woman, I want a lover, I want a friend, oh** _

_**I want me somebody to share my love** _   
_**Lovin' is something I gotta have** _   
_**I want me a woman, I want a lover, I want a friend** _

“Get over here, my man,” she purred and then he was in her arms.

Merle was so much more confident in himself now, she could sense it in the way he moved and the way he touched her. After months together, he didn’t doubt her devotion to him and they were a fully functioning unit.

Miranda rested her cheek on his chest as they moved slowly to the music and let her hands venture down to his perfect ass.

“I’m going to fuck you till you can’t see straight, baby,” she giggled.

“Damn,” he groaned. “Can’t wait for that.”

“Let’s go down to the dock when we get unpacked and have some outdoor nooky,” she suggested.

“Someone’s frisky,” he grinned.

“You know it.”

/

They didn’t make it outside to the dock until after supper, but the idea of making love in the moonlight was even sexier than sunshine so they didn’t mind. He carried a cooler of beer out with them and took in a slow deep breath of fresh air before he got started with his plan.

“Wanna ask questions?” he asked, as she took off her sandals and let her feet dangle down into the pond.

“Thought you knew everything about me now, but go ahead,” she winked.

“Would you ever get married again?”

“Yes.”

Merle smiled and sat down next to her on the dock, but he could sense that he had peeked her interest. That was the plan.

“Do you want to get married someday?” she countered.

“Definitely.”

“Oh,” she smiled. “That’s cool.”

He wanted to keep it awkward, to keep her on edge.

“What kind of wedding would you want?”

She thought about it for a moment and all she saw in her mind was her and Merle.

“A really simple, private ceremony…at town hall or something with strangers as witnesses and no big white dress, just something simple.”

“No big white wedding?” he grinned.

“Nope. Just me and the groom, nobody else.”

“The groom, huh?”

“Yep…whoever that would be,” she teased.

Merle liked playing with her a little and so he flipped the script.

“So…what’s your favorite sexual position?”

She looked a little miffed by the change of subject but played along anyway.

“Any position you fuck me in is my favorite, but I’m partial to girl on top.”  
“Your turn,” he smiled, laying back on the dock to look up at a few stars making their first appearance.

“Merle…are you thinking about marriage?” she pressed.

“Kinda. Is that your question?”

Miranda sighed and said yes, he was starting to get on her nerves and that was all part of the plan.

“My turn…Miranda?”

“Yes?”

“Can I ask you something really important?”

“Yes, Merle, ask me anything.”

“Will you…pass me a beer?”

“Merle!”

“What?” he laughed.

“Nothing,” she growled, handing him a beer from the cooler.

“Your turn.”

“Are you trying to drive me crazy?” she huffed.

“I don’t know what you mean! Me? Drive a woman crazy? That’s madness,” he cackled. “My turn again.”

Miranda rolled her eyes and twisted the cap off a beer, by the looks of it, she was ready.

“Alright, alright, honey. No more playin’ around,” he gave in.

She wasn’t budging though, she just kept looking out over the water.

“Miranda, you know I love you more than anything in the whole world, right?”

“Yes,” she answered then, turning to smile at him.

“And you know that being with you is all I care about.”

“Yes.”

“Me and you is the best thing that ever happened to me and I could never want another woman as long as I live.”

“Yes,” she smiled.

“Yep, you’re one of the good ones. I gotta take a piss, be right back” he said, pretending to get up, and then she lost it.

“Merle Dixon! I’m about to kill you!”

“Don’t kill me, honey,” he laughed. “Marry me instead. Make me the happiest man around.”

He fished a ring from his pocket and handed it to her just as she was ready to slug him, and she squealed with excitement.

“Yes!” she exclaimed. “I was just about to drag you into the pond and drown you!”

Merle watched her slide the ring onto her finger and in a heartbeat, they were on the dock, tangled in each other.

He wasn’t great with the idea of a mushy proposal and this way he could tell she wanted him to ask even before he did. She would always remember it and smile at the very least anyway.

Very soon, the mood changed, and it was just him and his girl in the woods alone and in love. He ran his hand up under her sundress and took her ass in his hand, urging her up against his raging hard dick.

“Can I fuck you right here in the moonlight, Mrs. Dixon?” he growled.

“Yes, Mr. Dixon,” she purred. “Give it to me good.”

“You know I will.”

Merle thrust against her and licked her breasts until she was pleading for more. He wanted her right there on the edge, crying out for it this time.

He pulled her dress off and left her in her panties under the stars as he kissed up her legs all the way from her ankles, slow and sultry.

“There’s nobody like you, Merle…nobody could ever please me like you do.”

“Good, honey…you’re the only one I care to please. I wanna make you feel it everywhere.”

“You do, baby…you always do.”

Merle licked along the elastic of her panties and blew warm breath all over her inner thighs before going in for the kill, ripping her panties off and spreading her legs wide.

/

She felt his hands sliding under her ass and he lifted her body to his mouth like sipping hot soup from a bowl. His hot tongue explored her body and his lips claimed hers, the stars witnessing everything and twinkling in approval.

His massive arms slid under her thighs then as he lowered her ass to the dock again and he held her steady by the waist to really take it home.

“Merle…sweet Jesus you’re good!” she whined.

/

He made her cum and raised his eyes to see her body writhing in the moonlight as it washed over her, he planned to keep that memory in his mind forever. Her skin was glowing under the moon and stars and she never looked more beautiful.

She wanted to touch him back, but in that moment, all he wanted was to make love to her, so he insisted on that.

“I just gotta be inside you, honey…I need it.”

“Come here then, baby,” she answered, pulling him down over her.

Merle drove into the woman of his dreams and held her head in the crook of his arm the whole time. Her legs wrapped around his waist as he moved deeper and deeper inside her.

“I love you, Merle…you’re the best I ever had,” she smiled.

Just like that, one of his greatest fantasies came true and he knew it was going to work. He and Miranda were going to be together forever, she was never going to leave him, he could believe it with everything he had.

One fluke event of being trapped together in a basement and now he had everything he ever dreamed of. Life hadn’t always been fair to him, but when it paid him back, it did so in a big way.

_ **~ The End** _


End file.
